San Diego Toreros (7-11, 0-3 WCC) • Pepperdine Waves (7-9, 0-2 WCC)
Saturday, January 11 • 7 p.m.
Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) • San Diego, Calif.
TV • WCC Network | Live Stats
SAN DIEGO – San Diego will look to bounce from Thursday's defeat against the nation's top-ranked team when it hosts Pepperdine on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The Toreros are aiming to end their three-game losing streak to start the conference schedule when they take on the Waves. USD has three players averaging double-figures in scoring during WCC action, but as a team, it is shooting less than 40% from the field. Pepperdine, meanwhile, arrives in San Diego shooting 39.7% in its last five games.
Saturday's game can be watched on the WCC Network, with the Voice of the Toreros Jack Cronin on the call.
ALL-TIME SERIES AGAINST PEPPERDINE
- Saturday will be the 110th all-time meeting between USD and Pepperdine, with the Toreros trailing in the series, 46-63.
- The Toreros and Waves have split season series sweeps over the last two years. Pepperdine won both games last season while USD captured the two games in 2017-18.
- Since 1980, USD is 20-20 against Pepperdine at home. However, in the last six meetings at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, the Toreros are 1-5. Of the five losses, three were decided by five points or less.
- The Toreros are 10-9 against Pepperdine in the last eight seasons (since 2012).
JAMES THE SCORER
- James Jean-Marie is averaging double-digits in points to start the conference season with a 10.3 clip. The junior college transfer has 10+ points in two of the three games.
- The Navarro College product is shooting 54.5% from the field (12-of-22) in WCC action. He is averaging seven field goal attempts per conference game.
- Jean-Marie is one of three Toreros averaging double-figures in scoring in WCC games this year (others: Braun Hartfield, 11.7; Joey Calcaterra, 10.7).
OPPOSING THREES
- USD is third in the WCC and 72nd in the country in three-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot 30.4% from downtown.
- The Toreros are best at home in three-point defense as opponents are shooting just 25.7% from three at the Jenny Craig Pavilion this season (39-of-152). Outside of Gonzaga on Thursday, no opponent has shot higher than 30% this season from three in the JCP.
- The Toreros held LMU to 13.6% from beyond the arc in their conference opener. It was the lowest three-point shooting percentage allowed by the Toreros since March 9, 2019 at BYU (5.9%).
- USD has held 10 of its 18 opponents to 30% or less in three-point shooting this season.
AT THE POINT
- Marion Humphrey has settled into his point guard role midway through the season as he is averaging 4.3 assists (17 assists) in the last four games. He also has a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- Humphrey is averaging 2.4 assists per game this season. He is second on the team in total assists with 41 (Leader: Joey Calcaterra, 43).
- Humphrey had seven assists and no turnovers against Whittier on December 29, making it only the fourth time in the last 10 seasons a Torero had seven-plus assists and no turnovers (source: Sports Reference). It was the first time since
Isaiah Wright had eight assists and no turnovers against Weber State in last year's season opener on November 6, 2018.
BRAUN BRAUN
- Braun Hartfield has become the go-to offensive threat for the Toreros as the Cleveland, Ohio native is averaging 15.0 points on 47.4% shooting (64-of-135) in the last 11 games. He has scored in double-digits in 10 of those 11 games.
- In addition to averaging 15.0 points, Hartfield is averaging 6.3 rebounds (69 total) in the last 10 - which is second on the team (leader: Massalski, 6.4/game).
- In the first seven games, Hartfield averaged 9.4 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 37.3%, meaning he has improved his scoring nearly six points points per game while improved his shooting nearly 10 percentage points.
BRAUN'S RANGE
- While he only had one three-pointer on Thursday against Gonzaga, Braun Hartfield is still shooting well from long range over the last four games. He is shooting 52.2% (12-of-23) over the stretch. He is shooting 32.9% for the season.
START TO THE WCC SEASON
- The Toreros are 0-3 to start their conference schedule for the first time since 2016-17. USD has not started the WCC season 0-4 since 2015-16.
BLOCK BY BLOCK
- Yauhen Massalski currently ranks fifth in program history with 107 career blocks. He is only the fifth Torero to have 100+ blocks in a career, and he has 40+ blocks in each of his first two seasons at USD. He enters the game against Santa Clara on pace for 39 blocks this year in the regular season.
- The Belarus native has a block in seven of his eight games this year. He has at least one block in 53 career games, which are the third-most since 2010-11 by a Torero (source: Sports Reference). Jito Kok (2013-16) had 111 career games with at least one block to lead the program.
All-Time Career Blocks
USD History
- Jito Kok (2012-15) - 193
- Scott Thompson (1983-87) - 183
- Gyno Pomare (2005-09) - 158
- Dondi Bell (1987-1991) - 129
- Yauhen Massalski (2017-Current) - 107
UNDER 60
- USD has held opponents to less than 60 points four times this season, going 4-0 in such contests.
- Last year, the Toreros held 10 opponents to 59 points or less and posted a 10-0 record in those games. They have won 15 consecutive games, dating back to 2017-18, when holding teams to less than 60 points.
- The Toreros are 14-0 under head coach Sam Scholl when they hold teams to 59 points or less (30-25 overall in his two-plus seasons as the head coach).
